


Weird Things Happen At Shipwreck High

by hentailobster



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Horror, Light Horror, and major character death but it's not permanent that's the potc way babes, and some depictions of dead ppl so like beware, or like, there is also magic because i do what i want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-08-01 04:01:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16277423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hentailobster/pseuds/hentailobster
Summary: He’d been pulled down, disappearing below the surface. When he slowly floated back up his eyes were wide open, staring at Will.There's a new student at the small school in the small town of shipwreck and Will just knows there's something wrong with him.





	Weird Things Happen At Shipwreck High

**Author's Note:**

> "Any modern au/ fantasy au or just fanfics where Jack is slutshamed you recommend?" Said an anon
> 
> And "I couldn’t find any which is some bullshit so I guess I’m just gonna have to write something myself huh" I replied, like the whole entire fool I am 
> 
> this is the result lads cheers

It was a well known fact that weird things tended to happen at Shipwreck High. 

 

Or well, well known to the students. Their parents who had once attended the school never remembered anything, and the teachers who were occasionally in the middle of the weird things never quite noticed. Will had grown used to it and learned to make the best out of the situation. Some of the weird things were actually pretty nice, especially what was going on in his locker. 

 

The whole thing had started a while back, when one of his manga volumes had vanished. At first he thought someone had just stolen it to mess with him, that had happened before, but then it was back the next time he opened his locker. Then gone again. Then back. Then gone. When it had returned Will decided he’d had enough, wrote a note and stuck it in the book. It read: _’If you want to borrow my book you can just ask, no need to break into my locker’._ He was actually a bit surprised when he got a response and even more so when it turned out whoever was borrowing his book had in fact not broken into his locker and just found it in hers. It wasn’t the weirdest thing that had happened to either of them, so they didn’t make a big deal out of it, but something at least Will made a big deal out of was that they had for one reason or another continued to pass notes through their lockers. It usually happened between classes and could be anything from long letters to simple observations. The note Will found in his locker this time, for example, said: _’student missing again. she’ll probably be back before lunch but I can’t help but worry about her’._

 

Will wrote a quick response that he hoped sounded a bit comforting, then stuffed the note in the back of the locker. He grabbed his math books and headed out to the school yard to catch up on some homework. He usually didn’t let himself fall behind like this, but something had been on his mind that had distracted him. Not that he remembered what. The more he tried the more it slipped away from him and after a while he gave up, deciding to focus on his schoolwork. 

 

That lasted for about half a minute. 

 

Will sometimes felt bad for not telling his pen pal who he was, but whenever he saw her it reminded him why he did it. When Elizabeth Swann crossed the schoolyard everything stopped. She was never alone, always surrounded by friends, admirers and probably a few suitors about to be rejected. Normally Will wouldn’t care for girls like her, but Elizabeth was nothing like the popular girls in their school, or anyone else’s for that matter. She was _nice._ Not even the other losers talked to Will but she would smile at him if she saw him sitting alone and never laughed when anyone tried to steal his bag. On good days Will could pretend she liked him. 

 

This wasn’t a good day. 

 

Once Elizabeth had passed him Will picked up his notebook and started writing. 

 

_’I saw you today. That sounds super creepy but it’s not like anyone can avoid seeing you. I swear I’m trying not to be creepy. You know it really should be easier to tell you things like this, because secret identity and all that, but I still can’t even write the words down in a letter like this that I won’t ever send you. You deserve someone braver than me. Someone like yourself who’s smart and funny and pretty. I need to go to class now, but I’ll write more later’_

 

 

 

Classes with professor Barbossa were awful. Without fail. It was beyond Will why he’d chosen to become a teacher in the first place, seeing as it really seemed like he hated kids. One of the few times Will had seen him smile was when he’d shown up to class to tell everyone about a ghost that supposedly haunted the school. With how much else happened a ghost didn’t seem that impossible and since then everyone had developed a strong fear of the (according to Barbossa) former principal Davy Jones suddenly crawling out of the closed swimming hall. 

 

Why was that closed anyway? Will couldn’t remember but he was certain it hadn’t been closed that long. He’d have to ask Elizabeth about it in his next note. 

 

”Attention you miserable pack of rats, we have a new student here today who I am apparently required to introduce” It didn’t sound like Barbossa enjoyed that at all, but he didn’t really enjoy anything. He glared at the class for no apparent reason, then opened the classroom door, inviting the new student in. 

 

Something about him caught Will’s attention. It wasn’t in the usual way a new student would, there was something so _familiar_ about the boy. Will was sure he’d seen him before, but trying to remember when was like banging his head against a brick wall. Literally. He was getting a headache. 

 

”Why don’t you tell this lot who you are?” Barbossa gave the boy an unfriendly pat on the back, urging him forward towards the class.

 

”Hi, my name is Jack. Jack Sparrow” The boy smiled and Will noticed he had several gold teeth. For some reason, he couldn’t help but imagine the boy falling out of a window and losing them that way. It was such a clear picture. His headache was getting worse. 

 

The boy continued with his presentation but didn’t really say much about himself more than that he’d just moved to Shipwreck City. Barbossa ordered him to sit down in the seat in front of Will’s and Will noticed that he smelled like sea water. As Barbossa got on with the class he tore a page out of his notebook and started formulating a new letter to Elizabeth. 

 

_’Have you seen the new guy? I swear I know him but I can’t remember where from. I also can’t remember why they closed the swimming hall, do you have any idea? I hate forgetting things like this’_

 

He kept writing throughout most of the class. Barbossa was putting all his attention on Angelica who had apparently forgotten to do her homework so the rest of the class just did whatever they wanted. Will overheard Jack talking to the guy next to him, Theodore. He wasn’t sure but he thought Theodore sounded a bit flustered. 

 

 

 

When class was over Will thought about trying to talk to Jack, but decided against it when the guy was immediately swarmed by other students. New kids weren’t exactly a common sight at Shipwreck High. 

 

Will pushed past the crowd towards his locker. A new locker had appeared next to it again, he noticed. To the left of his own, number 1094, was now one with the number 7038, which was weird since by the code that the lockers followed that would mean the locker was supposed to be on the seventh floor, which was where the teachers had their offices. There were no lockers there. 

 

The new one had a rusty lock with an equally rusty key in it. Will stared at it like it would tell him what was going on itself, but of course it didn’t. After what felt like way too long Will grabbed the key, deciding it was best to explore the locker later, when there weren’t any people around. He put it in his pocket and opened his own locker. There was a new note from Elizabeth. 

 

_’classmate back safe and sound but a little confused. she says she saw jones’_

 

Will added that he was glad the girl was back to the beginning of his letter then put it in his locker. When he closed it Jack was there. 

 

”Hey” He smiled as Will tried not to scream in surprise. 

 

”Hey” Will replied carefully. If someone talked to him it was usually a bad sign. 

 

”Just wanted to talk to you, I’m trying to get to know everyone” 

 

Something about him made Will feel weird. Jack looked relaxed, but something about the way he smiled made Will feel like he was a bird and Jack was a hungry cat. 

 

”I wouldn’t bother. I’m not exactly the social elite here” 

 

”I know” 

 

_That just means he can tell from the way you act,_ Will tried to tell himself as Jack said goodbye and left. 

 

He didn’t believe it for a second. 

 

 

 

At lunch he spotted Jack talking to one of Elizabeth’s friends (Will thought her name was Anamaria) and the two of them eventually left the cafeteria. It was obvious what they were going to get up to. If Jack was that kind of guy it could explain why Will felt weird around him, but there was still something else. That odd sense of familiarity that followed Will through the whole day. As he was walking home he spotted Jack taking a right turn where most kids continued straight ahead towards the town. The road Jack took led to the beach. 

 

”Hey! You dropped this!” Will froze. He slowly turned around and saw Elizabeth running towards him. She was carrying his notebook. He could barely formulate his response. 

 

”Thank you so much” He hastily stuffed the book into his bag. Elizabeth looked amused. 

 

”I didn’t read it if that’s what you’re worried about” 

 

”I- Thank you” 

 

Elizabeth laughed and Will felt his knees go weak. 

 

”That’s nothing to thank me for! See you tomorrow Will” 

 

Will didn’t even know she knew his name. He was probably smiling like an idiot, waving at her as she caught up with her friends. 

 

Talking to Elizabeth had made him lose sight of Jack, but he couldn’t care less. 

 

 

 

The week continued like usual, until one day Elizabeth sent him a note that caught his attention. 

 

_’one of my friends is acting really weird. she’s been kinda off lately, like she’s somewhere far away’._

That wasn’t so out of the ordinary, but it still startled Will, because something similar had happened to a girl in his class. One morning Angelica, who was usually loud and never afraid to express her opinions, had shown up in class and just stared at the chalkboard as Barbossa told her off for being late. She didn’t defend herself, or even roll her eyes. Just stared. 

 

Will tried to remember as much of the day as possible and wrote it down. Elizabeth agreed that it sounded similar and said that she’d seen others acting like that as well. It was weird. Weirder than usual. And Will still hadn’t had time to check out the new locker. The key remained in his pocket and felt heavier with each passing day. 

 

Jack hadn’t talked to him since his first day, instead he spent his time with the most popular kids, not very discreetly flirting with anyone who got within arm’s reach. From what Will could tell he was quite successful. 

 

He still wasn’t sure what was so off about Jack, but it was definitely something. Over time he came to realize that it wasn’t just the familiarity, there was something else. Something about how Jack talked and moved that made him seem wrong in a way that Will just couldn’t quite put into words. It was driving him mad.

 

Which was why he was currently following Jack. 

 

School was over and everyone had started going home. As per usual Jack had taken right, but this time he hadn’t been alone. Will tried his best to keep enough of a distance not to seem suspicious, but his anxiety kept telling him he was too close and about to be caught. He shook the thoughts off as best as he could and continued towards the beach. It was raining (Which was weird since in school it had been sunny) and the clouds made things look a lot darker than they were. In Will’s eyes, every shadow was a ghost or a murderer lying in wait for him, and every logical part of his brain was screaming for him to turn around and go back. 

 

He kept going. 

 

The landscape surrounding the road went from forest to open beach after a while and Will stopped by the edge, crouching behind a bush. Jack walked across the beach towards the water, discarding his bag along the way. It sank into the sand. Literally sank. It was bizarre. 

 

”That’s bizarre” Someone whispered next to him. Will nearly jumped out of his skin. 

 

At some point Elizabeth had crouched down next to him. She looked flawless as ever, even though she was frowning, eyes fixed on Jack who was now standing in the water. He paused for a moment, then kept walking. When he disappeared into the waves completely, Will realized he’d been holding his breath. 

 

”Did you see that?” 

 

”I did” Elizabeth looked about the same as Will felt. Shocked, confused and a little scared. 

 

”I mean, are you _sure_ you saw that? We saw that. Are you sure we just saw Jack walk into the ocean?”

 

”I am” 

 

”Why would he do that?”

 

”I’m not sure” Elizabeth looked to be deep in thought ”But this is definitely something out of the ordinary. Even for our school” 

 

Will nodded enthusiastically ”That’s exactly what I was thinking! Jack’s in my class and he’s been acting off all this time”

 

Elizabeth gave him a look that he couldn’t quite interpret, but it quickly faded as she replied ”Maybe there’s some connection between him and how people have been acting lately? Sorry, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but a few people have started acting kind of absent, in a way. It’s like they’re sleepwalking” 

 

”I have noticed”

 

”Great! Well one of my friends was talking to Jack just before she got like…that. At the time I thought it was a coincidence but with all this I’m beginning to doubt that…” Elizabeth trailed off for a moment, then her face lit up ”Hey, how would you like helping me solve a mystery?” 

 

 

 

Will had said yes, of course. He’d have liked to say it was to achieve something greater than possibly spending time with Elizabeth, but that obviously wasn’t the case. 

 

Even acting as lookout as she opened the misplaced locker felt like time well spent, though Will was feeling quite nervous for entirely other reasons. He heard her rummage around as he peered down the corridor, expecting a teacher to round the corner any moment. It did not happen and he finally started to relax when Elizabeth suddenly put a hand on his shoulder and he tensed up again in surprise. 

 

”I think I got everything. Uh-” She hesitated for a moment ”Maybe this is a little weird, but do you think we could meet up after school and go through this? I still have classes and I really don’t want to stay here longer than necessary” 

 

Will was pretty sure his voice had reached an unnatural pitch. And he was stammering. 

 

”Yeah! Yeah sure, that sounds great um, do you want me to meet you after school or something?” 

 

”That should work” Elizabeth smiled. Will decided that Jack walking into the ocean was the best thing that had ever happened to him. When he snuck back to class he was still smiling like an idiot, but luckily no one seemed to notice. He sat down and opened his notebook to continue writing.

 

There was a piece of paper stuck in it. 

 

Will looked around, but there was no telling who could have put it there. A little suspicious (He still wasn’t entirely over the month where leaving mean notes in his books were the hot new thing for his classmates) he opened it and didn’t find any insults, but a somewhat cryptic message: 

 

_’Wednesday. 1647. Seventh from the bottom, third from the left. Bring all you’ve found’_

 

So someone wanted to meet him Wednesday, which was two days from now, as much was apparent. And the numbers could be the time seeing as the year 1647 had passed, quite a while ago. The rest of it didn’t make much sense to him, though. 

 

 

 

”What do you think?” 

 

Elizabeth had finished reading the note and now looked to be deep in thought. She and Will were sitting on her bedroom floor with their clues spread out along with her bag- filled with whatever she’d found in locker 7038- and a plate of cookies. 

 

”I think someone might know what we’re up to. You said you found this after we went to check the locker, right?” 

 

”Yeah”

 

”So the person who wrote this could be referring to what I found there by ’all you’ve found’. I don’t see what other alternatives there are” 

 

”That makes sense. I just don’t know who would know that, and how” A thought struck him, and he froze ”You don’t think it’s Jack, do you?” 

 

Elizabeth’s expression darkened. ”It’s a possibility” She said ”I think…if we go see this person or not really depends on what we can make of what’s in my bag” 

 

”Then let’s open it” 

 

The first thing Elizabeth took out was a newspaper. It was from just a few months back, right after they’d started school. Will had never seen it before, which was surprising since the headline was _’Student Found Dead At Shipwreck High’._

 

That sounded like something he really should remember. 

 

”I skimmed through it back in the corridor and apparently they snuck into the swimming hall at night and drowned” Will opened the newspaper as Elizabeth talked and was met by a large picture of the swimming pool before it had been closed. A red circle marked where the body had been found, just by the ladder. The student had almost made it, and for some reason Will felt a lot more sorry for them than he’d expected considering he didn’t know who they were. 

 

”Do you remember this at all?” 

 

”No” Elizabeth shook her head ”That’s hardly unusual but it’s so frustrating. I can’t help but wonder if the same thing could happen to me. Like I’d get killed and everyone would just forget…” 

 

A shiver ran up Will’s spine. Elizabeth started digging through her bag again, obviously not in the mood to discuss the subject further, and Will picked the newspaper up to read the article. It never mentioned the student by name, but apparently they’d been in Will’s class. Will tried his hardest to think back on what had happened a few months back, but didn’t get anywhere. Once again, there was that brick wall. Usually when he couldn’t remember something for unnatural reasons it was less obvious than this. It was as if someone carefully led his thoughts away from the subject every time he tried to think of it, not keeping it locked away like this. The brick wall was more obviously not supposed to be a part of his mind. 

 

He kept reading. The article mainly described the school’s reaction and how the student had been found. One particular bit caught Will’s interest. 

 

_’One of the deceased’s classmates was present at the time and alerted police. The classmate in question claims to have seen the deceased being pulled below the surface. The police are hesitant to further investigate this seeing as the classmate in question was in shock at the time’_

 

_Pulled below the surface._

 

_Pulled below the surface._

 

_He’d been pulled down, disappearing below the surface. When he slowly floated back up his eyes were wide open, staring at Will._

 

”Will!” Elizabeth shook his arm ”Will are you listening?” 

 

”I was there” Will almost surprised himself by saying it. Elizabeth looked surprised as well. 

 

”When they drowned? How did you-” Her eyes widened ”You remember?” 

 

Will nodded. ”Not much but it wasn’t an accident, that much I can say. Something pulled them down and I- I don’t know what I was doing, I couldn’t help them” 

 

”Do you remember their name? How they looked?” 

 

”No” Will sighed. he felt like curling up in a corner somewhere, but that would have to wait ”But I think we were friends. We snuck in there together, at least that must mean something” 

 

”I think…” Elizabeth bit her lip ”I think we might have been friends too. You and me” 

 

A thousand questions poured into Will’s mind at once. 

 

”Do _you_ remember?” 

 

”No, but look at this” Elizabeth had been going through a photo album. She opened it, showing a page filled with polaroid pictures of the beach and the school. It looked water damaged ”I’m certain I took these, because I still have the camera” Elizabeth stood up and walked over to a bookshelf. Out of it, she picked another photo album and showed it to Will. The photos did look similar. Not only in quality but also in style. Some pictures were almost identical to ones in the album Will was holding. He carefully turned the page to compare more of them and was met by his own face. He was smiling at the camera, holding a piece of driftwood that looked just like a tentacle. 

 

”That’s you right?” Elizabeth asked. Will could only nod in response. The whole spread was pictures of him, Elizabeth (those pictures were nowhere near as well taken as the rest) and someone else. They were usually turned from the camera, but when Will turned the page again he found one picture of them in profile. Their face was a little blurry, but Will could still clearly make out a few gold teeth. 

 

Elizabeth peeked over his shoulder. 

 

”Are you finding anything else? I didn’t get to that page because I-” She gasped. Will had never heard anyone actually gasp before. ”Is that…?” 

 

Will couldn’t answer. He stared at the picture. He could almost remember the moment it had been taken. The feeling of the smooth sand beneath his feet, the sound of waves, Elizabeth laughing. Jack was laughing too, in the picture, but Will couldn’t remember how that had sounded. All he could remember was wide eyes staring at him, dark hair flowing in the lit up water and himself screaming. 

 

”It is” He finally managed to croak out. 

 

”So what happened to him? Why is he new all of a sudden? Why does no one remember him?” 

 

Will stared at the date written at the top of the page. Two months before the newspaper had come out.

 

_He’d fallen in._

 

In the middle of a summer break that Will had to this point remembered as uneventful and lonely. 

 

_Pulled down._

 

Elizabeth wiped his cheek carefully. Will hadn’t even realized he was crying. 

 

”I think” She said softly ”We should go see whoever sent the note, but until then I think it’s best you take a break from this” 

 

Will nodded. He was getting tired, so after he and Elizabeth had exchanged numbers (Which he was too tired to be properly excited about, somehow) and she had promised to go over the rest of what she’d found in the locker Will made his way home. He didn’t even eat any dinner, just sent a text about how he wasn’t feeling well to what he hoped was the school administration then fell asleep with his clothes on. 

 

 

 

He woke up with a splitting headache, his head buzzing with snippets of memories he couldn’t quite place and after a few hours Will was coming to realize that staying home might have been a mistake. The silence helped with his head a little, but the moment he stopped focusing entirely on something his brain was overrun with memories that didn’t fit in at all with the ones he already had of the past few months. Sometimes he could create some sort of order among them, kind of put them in place on top of each other, but most of the time it was like how he imagined being stuck in a washing machine would feel. If there was also a few rocks in there. And like, a raccoon, just for added effect. 

 

After a few hours of trying and failing to read he got a text from Elizabeth. 

 

_’Stayed at home today, feel like crap lmao but I checked the rest of the stuff and some of it’s p interesting’_

 

Will needed a moment to collect his thoughts before he could answer and it felt like he had to restart every word a couple of times. One way or another him and Elizabeth decided to meet up in school the next day so he could get a look at it and they could prepare to meet whoever had written the note. Then, one way or another, they kept texting. 

 

It took a while between replies, sure, both for him and Elizabeth, but it made time go a little faster and when Elizabeth finally had to go eat they’d had a quite long conversation about relatively normal things. It felt like Will hadn’t had anything like that in ages, even though if he were to trust his newly regained memories it couldn’t have been more than a few months. Thinking about all that had gotten a little easier and considerably less physically painful over the course of the day, but it still didn’t make much sense. Things that happened at the same time were spread out across the year, so he’d have memories of going to the beach in the middle of summer and coming back from school to an apartment he’d moved out of two years ago. 

 

After about three hours of trying it became obvious that he wasn’t going to be able to sleep that night. 

 

 

 

Will really didn’t want to go to school the next day. He was tired, still felt dizzy whenever he stood up and his headache had gotten even worse from more natural causes. But he had to, seeing as he couldn’t postpone his meeting with Elizabeth or the mysterious note passer, so he drank three cups of coffee- a drink he’d never enjoyed- and tried not to pass out in class. It almost worked. 

 

The second Jack walked into the classroom Will’s head started to spin. 

 

 

 

He woke up on the couch in the nurse’s office. The school hadn’t had a nurse in months, so he suspected it was mainly symbolic. Elizabeth was sitting next to him. 

 

”Hey” She said. She sounded tired ”Heard you passed out so I got out of class” 

 

”How?” 

 

”Our teacher hasn’t been seen for five weeks, we’re lawless” 

 

”Oh I see” 

 

”Anyway, I brought my findings. What do you think?” Elizabeth opened her bag and spread out a few notebooks across the couch table. Will sat up, slowly so he wouldn’t get too dizzy, and opened one of them. It didn’t even have a name on the front and was mainly filled with sketches, unlike Will’s notebooks that had some notes at least. 

 

”I think they might be Jack’s” He finally said. Elizabeth nodded. 

 

”I suspected it. I can’t imagine him taking notes in class” She picked up another one of the books and skimmed to a page that had been bookmarked ”I can’t really make sense of the sketches, though. Some are really simple, but then there’s this one” 

 

The drawing covered an entire spread, looked like it had taken quite some time and depicted an old man that Will couldn’t recognize. He stared at it for some time, then hesitantly reached out to trace the lines of the man’s face. He could have sworn the pages were damp. 

 

”Do you know who he is?” Will had lowered his voice, but wasn’t quite sure why. Something about the man just made him feel like he needed to, like when a room is dark and you start whispering for no reason. 

 

”No idea” Elizabeth was as hushed as himself ”I don’t think I’d like him much if I ever met him, though” 

 

That sounded plausible. The man looked stern, especially for a drawing, and his eyes were far too icy for Will’s liking. Will shuddered. 

 

”Are there any other drawings like this one?” 

 

”Not that I’ve seen, most of them are scribbles. There’s one more interesting thing, though” Elizabeth reached for another book and started skimming through it. She quickly found what she was looking for and showed Will. 

 

”These keep appearing, and it might just be me seeing things but I feel like they’re significant in some way” She pointed to the middle of a page filled with different scribbles, where a dark, tentacle like shape had been drawn in ink, not pencil like the rest of the drawings. Elizabeth turned the page, and Will quickly spotted more tentacles in the same style. Some part of him wanted to make a tentacle porn joke, but he wasn’t sure what Elizabeth would think of it, and there was another part of him that agreed with what Elizabeth had said about them being significant. He tried to find as many of them as he could in the book to see if it could perhaps be a code of sorts, but found nothing. Elizabeth had picked up the book with the creepy man again and was in the process of documenting it by taking photos on her phone. 

 

”What time is it?” Will asked after a while of finding nothing. 

 

”Almost half past four. You think we should try and find them?” 

 

”Probably” Will thought about the message. _’Seventh from the bottom, third from the left’._ ”Do you have any theories?” 

 

Elizabeth shook her head. 

 

”None at all. Logically it should tell us where to meet them, but other than that I can’t make sense of it” 

 

”Yeah me neither” 

 

Suddenly, a thought struck Will. He thought it over for a second and…

 

_That could be it._

 

”Actually” He began ”I think it might be one of the bathrooms. We have seven floors in total, right. And on each one there are…five bathrooms, I think” 

 

Elizabeth lit up. 

 

”You’re right! That means top floor, and the middle bathroom. If there are five of them then it doesn’t matter from where you start counting”

 

”That’s true!” 

 

”Then let’s get going, detective” 

 

 

 

They were at the bathroom at 16:45 sharp. It was locked, and no one answered when Will hesitantly knocked. 

 

”Perhaps we have to wait until 47? Though I don’t see why” Elizabeth suggested. Will sighed. 

 

”I guess so” He leaned against the wall and tried to resist the urge to check the time every ten seconds. 

 

”Nervous?” 

 

”Of course” Will chuckled ”What about you?”

 

”Same here, but you know” Elizabeth bit her bottom lip and paused for a moment ”I also find it kind of… exciting. Like, this whole thing is horrible, sure but there’s also this thrill to it you know” 

 

Will thought about it. Probably a little too long, because before he could reply Elizabeth shook her head and continued. 

 

”Forget it. I’m just being weird” 

 

”It’s fine. I mean it’s a little weird, but I don’t mind” Will hoped that was the right thing to say. It seemed like it, because Elizabeth laughed. 

 

”Thank you” She said. 

 

Then they just kind of…looked at each other. 

 

Will didn’t know what to say, his mouth was dry and it felt like his blood had been run through a soda stream. Elizabeth was still smiling softly and Will just couldn’t stop thinking about how the setting sun made it look like her hair was made of pure gold. Normally he’d have worried about if it was an awkward silence or not, but rather than anxiety all he felt was a great sense of calm. 

 

”We should probably check the time” Elizabeth finally broke the silence, bringing Will back from whatever cloud he’d been floating on. 

 

”Yeah” He cleared his throat ”Right we should- We should do that” 

 

Just as Will opened his phone the clock turned 16:47. He noticed Elizabeth doing the same and without a word the two of them joined each other in front of the bathroom door. In the few seconds Will hesitated, Elizabeth raised her hand and knocked thrice. 

 

The door opened slightly, spilling a thin mist. When Will opened it to peek inside he found that the bathroom was much larger than it technically should be. In fact, he couldn’t actually see the walls in the thick fog. 

 

”Are you sure about this?” He asked Elizabeth. She nodded and grabbed his arm. 

 

”We’ll do it together” 

 

”Right” Will took a deep breath, and then the two of them stepped over the doorstep. 

 

Inside was a lot warmer than what was usual for their school during this time of the year. The mist gave made the air feel like in a rainforest, but when he looked down Will could make out the pattern of the tile floor. As he and Elizabeth moved further in he spotted a shadow at the far end of the room. Just as he had decided it was probably a sink, it spoke. 

 

”Welcome” 

 

The shadow’s voice was a lot nicer than you’d expect from a mysterious shadow in a bathroom that defied a good amount of the laws of physics. It sounded female, with a heavy accent that Will couldn’t quite place. 

 

”Thank you” He stuttered. When the shadow had talked he and Elizabeth had stopped, but now she urged him forward again. Will hesitantly let himself be pulled along and finally he realized that the shadow was in fact a girl who looked to be about his age and hundreds of years old at the same time. She smiled at them. 

 

”Please, sit down” She made a sweeping gesture towards a couple of pillows that were placed on the floor. There was a carpet too, with patterns that could only be described as tentacle-y. Will and Elizabeth sat down. 

 

”Did you write the note to Will?” Elizabeth asked. 

 

”I did” The girl nodded, still smiling ”But before we get to that allow me to introduce myself. Name’s Tia Dalma and there be no need for the two of you to tell me your names” 

 

”You already know” Will had planned for it to be a question, but the moment he said it he realized it was more of a statement. It just made sense for Tia Dalma to know who they were, considering she hung out in what Will was starting to suspect wasn’t really a bathroom and could deliver notes without being noticed. Because Will would definitely have noticed her if he’d seen her. 

 

She nodded again, her grin growing wider. 

 

”Now, for business. What did you find in that locker” 

 

”Right, well I’ve uh- I’ve got it all here” Elizabeth held out her bag. Tia Dalma took it (Will had kind of expected it to just float to her) and started laying out its contents on the carpet in front of her. For some reason she seemed to focus mainly on the notebooks, going through each one slowly as if she was looking for something. She didn’t even open the newspaper. 

 

”Do we need to fill you in?” Will didn’t really expect any other answer than Tia Dalma shaking her head. Of course she knew. She seemed to just know, in general. 

 

”What about you two, how much do you know of what’s happening?” 

 

”We know Jack died. And that he’s back, somehow” Elizabeth said. 

 

”And that something killed him” Will added. 

 

”All of it true, but you have no idea _how_ he’s back” Will suspected Tia Dalma did. 

 

”I’m guessing it has something to do with how… _messed up_ this school is” He said. Tia Dalma laughed. 

 

”You could put it like that, yes. See what’s happened is that the Jack who’s back is in fact, not the Jack who’s dead” 

 

”What do you mean?” Elizabeth’s eyes widened. 

 

”He’d still pass for Jack. Got all his memories and such, but that’s not a person. It’s naught but a soulless shell” Will shivered. The way Tia Dalma dragged the word ’shell’ out made the whole thing sound about ten times scarier to him. 

 

”Something like that is not alive” She continued ”It breathes and talks, sure, but what it does most of all…is _hunger._ Hunger for that which it does not have, but needs so desperately”

 

There was a pause. 

 

”Souls” Elizabeth finally whispered. Tia Dalma smiled, which seemed odd to Will seeing as they were discussing a soul-stealing zombie. Or something like it. 

 

”Is that what’s happening to people? They’ve lost their souls?” He asked. Tia Dalma suddenly looked grave. 

 

”The hunger of the shell cannot be satisfied, because the souls it steals do not stay with it. Right now, they wander the grey between worlds, constantly tugged to one side or the other”

 

”Does that mean that they’re gonna start getting… _hungry_ too?” Elizabeth asked. It was obvious she feared the worst. Will didn’t even want to imagine it. Things were bad enough with one soul-stealer but if more people became like that…

 

His train of thought was interrupted by Tia Dalma. 

 

”Luckily, no. They’re not dead, so their souls are still attached in a sense. They’re just very far away” 

 

”And what about Jack. Where is his soul?” Will really admired Elizabeth’s ability to ask reasonable questions in a situation that was as far from reasonable as one could get. Tia Dalma seemed to agree with him, based on how she looked at Elizabeth. 

 

”We’re about to find out” She grabbed one of the notebooks ”Could the two of you hold this like-” She guided their hands ”One on each side, yes that’s perfect. Now don’t let go until I say so” 

 

Tia Dalma leaned to the side and grabbed a few jars, a small wooden box, matches and a mirror. Will watched in fascination as she opened one of the jars and dipped her fingers in it, and took them out covered in some kind of white slime. She wrote a few odd-looking symbols on the notebook, then opened another jar. That one was filled with a dark red powder which she spread out across the symbols. 

 

”Put it down on the mirror” She ordered and Will and Elizabeth obliged. Once they’d let go of the book Tia Dalma opened the little box and took out a necklace and laid it around the book. It seemed to be made of leather string and filled with teeth. Some looked like they were from animals, others- quite alarmingly- did not. Will decided he’d be better off not asking. 

 

”What now?” He asked instead. 

 

”Promise me not to leave the room” Tia Dalma said. Then she lit one of the matches and set fire to the notebook. 

 

Either the cream or the powder must have been extremely flammable because the symbols lit up immediately. The fire then subsided and spread to the rest of the notebook, creating a soft, warm glow. 

 

”Now” Tia Dalma said ”Jack Sparrow, can you hear us?” 

 

Will held his breath. Nothing happened. 

 

Or at least, not at first. After a few moments of silence Will noticed the fire starting to flicker. Like there was wind blowing inside the room. Tia Dalma repeated her question. 

 

This time, there was something at the edge of Will’s mind. A whisper. He glanced over to Elizabeth, who glanced right back. Her eyes were wide. 

 

”Can you hear us?” Tia Dalma asked for the third time. 

 

_”Yes”_

 

Will was a big enough man to admit he jumped. That brought on a hollow, echoing laugh that definitely didn’t come from any human. 

 

”Jack?” Elizabeth hesitantly asked. 

 

_”In the flesh. Or I mean, not technically but that’s besides the point”_

 

”Hasn’t moved on” Tia Dalma mumbled ”That makes things easier” 

 

_”Makes what easier?”_

 

”This might be a little weird for you, Jack. But I’m putting you in this” She stroked the necklace with one finger. It took a while for Jack to say anything. 

 

_”Before you do, would you mind telling me why?”_

 

Tia Dalma went through the story with the ’shell’ again. It was still unsettling to think about. 

 

”There’s no guarantee, but I believe that the hollow in the shell could be what’s keeping the souls of your classmates from returning to their bodies. So if we put you back, that should restore things” She paused for a moment ”Hopefully” 

 

”Sounds reassuring” Will hoped his voice wasn’t shaking too much. 

 

_”Sure does. Do I have a choice?”_

 

”It’s your best shot at coming back to life”

 

_”Well I can’t say no to that offer can I? Work your magic”_

 

”Magic worked” 

 

Will frowned. 

 

”Was that it?” He asked. 

 

”I’m afraid so” Tia Dalma said. She carefully picked up the necklace ”Jack is bound to this now, so if you break it he’s gone forever”

 

”Got it”

 

”Just put it around the shell’s neck and things will most likely sort themselves out”

 

Will was about to ask for further instructions when suddenly it was as if he fell asleep for a second and when he opened his eyes he was standing next to Elizabeth in a cramped bathroom with no mist in sight. 

 

”Did that just-” Elizabeth trailed off and looked around the bathroom ”Did that just happen?” 

 

Will squeezed the necklace in his hand. 

 

”I think so” He said ”Either that or I just had the weirdest dream” 

 

 

 

Will didn’t sleep much that night. 

 

Not because he was up thinking about the day’s events or anything, it was because about an hour after he had gotten home Jack had started talking and then hadn’t stopped. 

 

_”So about your lockers”_ He said _”You haven’t told her you’re the one writing to her”_

 

Will sighed. 

 

”No”

 

_”Why?”_

 

”I don’t know. I guess I’m just scared she’ll be disappointed or something” It was past midnight now, but Will figured he and Jack had a lot to catch up on. 

 

_”Haven’t you been hanging out like, every day for the past three years?”_

 

”That’s different it’s-” It was still hard to wrap his head around everything going on with his memories. He hadn’t even realized how far back the tampering went ”Sometimes all that just feels like a dream and then sometimes this feels like a dream and I just don’t know if I can trust that what’s happening is actually happening” 

 

_”Okay but at least you’re not dead”_

 

”You’re gonna bring that up a lot, aren’t you?” 

 

_”Of course”_

 

”Well I suppose you’ve earned it” Will chuckled. 

 

The two of them went silent, Will staring at the roof and Jack presumably doing whatever the ghost equivalent of that was. It wasn’t like they had nothing to talk about, Will had more questions than he could count, but all of them felt weird to say out loud. Like actually saying it would make it real, or at least realer than it currently felt. 

 

”Hey Jack” He finally said ”What’s it like?” 

 

_”What?”_

 

”You know, being dead” 

 

There was a long pause. Will hoped it was because Jack was thinking, not because he was offended or anything. 

 

_”I don’t know”_ Jack’s voice was hesitant _”I can’t really describe it. It’s like, it doesn’t feel unnatural because I honestly don’t remember what it’s like to be alive, but at the same time I can’t help but feel like I’m missing something”_

 

Will shuddered. Neither him nor Jack said anything more that night, and as he was drifting off, thoughts about dark hair and unseeing eyes followed him into his dreams. 

 

 

 

The next day Will was woken up by his phone ringing. 

 

_”Hey, it’s me”_ Elizabeth said.

 

”Oh, hey. What’s going on?” Will mumbled, still not entirely awake. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could hear Jack say something about him finally being up. 

 

_”Well I did some thinking and Tia Dalma said the shell has all of Jack’s memories, right. So I figured if it sees us talking in school it’s gonna get suspicious”_

 

_Damn._ Will hadn’t thought about that. Up until yesterday he’d just found the shell kind of eerie, but now he was terrified it’d suddenly decide to take his soul as well. 

 

_What it does most of all is hunger._

 

Will shuddered. 

 

”That’s gonna be a problem” He thought for a moment ”We could text, maybe? But it could notice that as well” 

 

_”Yeah”_ Elizabeth agreed. Then she went silent for a while. She’d drifted off like she wanted to say something else, so Will patiently waited. 

 

_”Actually…”_ She finally continued _”I thought of an alternative that might work. We could talk through the lockers”_

 

Will froze. Some part of his brain knew exactly what was going on, but it was as if it refused to actually form the sentence. Or maybe Jack’s theatrical gasp had drowned it out. 

 

_”You still there?”_ Elizabeth’s slightly panicked tone snapped him back to reality. 

 

”Yeah” He slowly said ”How could- How did you figure it out?” 

 

_”I recognized your handwriting. Back when you dropped your notebook”_

 

”I thought you didn’t read that” Will noticed his voice pitching a little too much for his comfort. 

 

_”In my defense I had to try and find out who had dropped it. There were so many people, I wasn’t entirely sure”_

 

Will took a deep breath. That meant she’d probably only read the first page, where he’d written his name and phone number. He _really_ hoped that was the case or otherwise getting his soul sucked out by the shell didn’t sound like such a terrible alternative anymore. 

 

_”I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I just thought since you didn’t want to reveal yourself maybe you secretly hated me or something”_ She laughed nervously _”It’s silly, I know”_

 

”I can’t really blame you, can I?” Will couldn’t help but smile. Scratch that, ’smile’ wasn’t the right word, he was grinning like an idiot. 

 

_”No you can’t”_ Elizabeth laugh had turned less nervous and more soft. Will’s smile widened. 

 

”See you in school then”

 

_”Or at least hear from you”_

 

”Yeah I guess” 

 

_”Bye”_

 

”Bye” The moment Will hung up Jack started blabbering. 

 

_”You really lucked out on that one mate”_

 

”A little” Will got out of bed and went to put on some clothes. 

 

_”So what’s the next step. Dramatic confession in the heat of battle?”_

 

”Who says there’s gonna be a battle?” Will really didn’t like the idea of fighting the shell. He’d seen it walk into the ocean and come back to school fine the next day, so it probably wasn’t easy to fight. 

 

_”I’m just running though the possibilities”_

 

”Try and be a little more optimistic then. Besides, I’m not confessing to her” 

 

_”Why not?”_

 

Will considered explaining all the thousands of reasons that was a bad idea, but in the end he just said: 

 

”Because”

 

He figured Jack wouldn’t have listened anyway. 

 

 

 

 

The second Will stepped into class the shell locked eyes with him. He wanted to throw up, but somehow managed to get to his seat all the while the shell stared at him. Not until it had sat down in its assigned seat in front of him did he dare check if the necklace was hanging out of his pocket. It didn’t feel like it, so hopefully the shell had just been staring for no reason at all. 

 

Didn’t seem very likely. 

 

Plus, Jack was keeping surprisingly quiet. Will couldn’t be sure, but it seemed as if he was trying to hide himself from the shell. He wasn’t sure what to do so he just squeezed the necklace and started to think of what to write to Elizabeth. 

 

He couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched for all of class. 

 

 

 

School was over and kids poured out of the gates to get home. 

 

As usual, the shell took the right turn, and once again it was being followed. Will was gripping the necklace so hard he feared he might break it. 

 

Him and Elizabeth followed the shell at a safe distance, and it didn’t look like it had noticed them. It didn’t look like it noticed any of its surroundings either. It walked straight ahead like it was being pulled towards the sea. Will hadn’t noticed that the first time he followed the shell, but he figured he’d been too nervous. Not that he wasn’t nervous now, but at least he had Elizabeth with him. Then, on the other hand, they were about to get way too close to the shell for Will’s comfort. 

 

To be fair he was probably more nervous than last time, only for different reasons. 

 

Just like in school, Jack was quiet. 

 

Suddenly, Elizabeth nudged Will’s arm. When he turned to look at her she wordlessly motioned upwards. Dark clouds were starting to form, like there was someone setting the mood for the evening. It worked extremely well. The clouds were accompanied by a cold breeze, bringing with it the smell of the sea and it made Will shudder. He released his grip on the necklace to zip up his hoodie as far as it could go. 

 

It didn’t help much. 

 

After a few more minutes of walking, the shell reached the beach and Will and Elizabeth ducked into the same bushes as before not long after. Will wasn’t sure what exactly their plan was. It had sounded simple enough before (”sneak up on it and put on the necklace”) and it was probably still simple enough, but that was part of the problem. Will couldn’t help but think up different ways in which things could go wrong and they’d need a plan B, like if- 

 

”I can hear you you know”

 

_Like if the shell could somehow hear them._

 

It took all his willpower not to curse as loudly as he was possibly capable of. 

 

He turned to Elizabeth, whose eyes were wide with shock. She mimed something at him. _”Should we get up?”._

 

Will nodded. He felt like he was probably shaking, but somehow he managed to slowly rise to his feet. A part of his mind noted that he and Elizabeth were almost synchronized, but that could be Jack who had started panic-blabbering the moment the shell spoke to them. 

 

_”I’ll have you know I tried my best to stay quiet-”_

 

”I don’t think it could have heard you” Will whispered. 

 

”Wrong!” The shell raised a finger like it was about to lecture them and Will would probably have found it hilarious if he hadn’t been terrified out of his mind ”I actually hear my soul better than the two of you combined. It’s honestly quite annoying” 

 

_”_ Your _soul? Excuse me”_

 

”I’m not having this debate now” The shell cut off what sounded like it could have turned into quite a long rant from Jack ”Are you two here to fight me? Or were you just planning on ambushing me?” 

 

Will and Elizabeth looked at each other, both unsure of what to say. Finally Elizabeth spoke up. 

 

”Not unless you’ll give up willingly” 

 

The shell laughed. It was a full-body, open mouthed laugh that really didn’t suit Jack’s body. And it went on for bloody ages. Will considered taking the moment to charge when he noticed there was something off about the shell. Something was coming out of its mouth. 

 

He grabbed Elizabeth’s hand and the two of them watched in horror as something dark and slimy tentatively moved down the shell’s face in an almost crawling fashion. A thin, unnaturally black tentacle. 

 

Or was it the shell’s tongue? Will wasn’t sure and to be honest he didn’t want to know. The thing seemed to grow more confident and reached out as long as it could in Will and Elizabeth’s direction. 

 

_”I hope you understand that this is a no”_ The shell’s voice had changed. It was like a loud whisper, coming from all around them. 

 

Or rather, from the sea. 

 

”We need to go” Elizabeth pulled Will’s arm. He nodded and the two of them started backing. Will wasn’t sure why, but he was certain that if they were to turn around the shell would be at their backs sooner than they’d be able to take a step. 

 

_”Wait”_ Jack suddenly said _”Go back”_

 

” _What?_ Why?” Elizabeth had apparently heard him too. 

 

_”It needs to go back into the water. Soon too, I’d wager”_

 

”How do you know that?” Will wasn’t sure where to fix his gaze, so he chose to keep it on the shell to make sure it didn’t do something while they looked away. 

 

_”It’s just trying to scare you off so you won’t notice it backing”_

 

The shell’s expression darkened, and Will realized Jack was right. There were trails in the sand where the shell had dragged its feet.

 

”So we stall it and presumably…something will happen?” Elizabeth sounded a bit hesitant. 

 

_”Can’t guarantee it, but it’s worth a shot I’d say”_ Will would definitely have preferred it if Jack _could_ guarantee something would happen, but it didn’t seem like they had a choice. Without thinking too much about it, he started moving towards the shell again. It took a step back. Him and Elizabeth took yet another step forward. 

 

Then the shell turned around to run and Will broke into a sprint. Him and Elizabeth reached the shell and she managed to make it trip just a few meters from the water. With an inhumane screech it got up, clawing at Will with crooked fingers. Will grabbed the necklace in his pocket and was about to take it out when the shell shoved Elizabeth hard in the chest. She fell back on the sand and Will just barely managed to tackle the shell before it reached her. He hit the ground, landing between the shell and Elizabeth. 

 

Will coughed, feeling as if each breath just filled his lungs with the damp sand. In the corner of his eye he could see Elizabeth standing up and he hurriedly did the same, expecting to have to face a new attack in mere seconds. 

 

But to his surprise, the shell didn’t get up. It crawled, desperately, towards the sea and without a second thought, Will followed it. He grabbed the necklace again, gripping it tightly in his left hand. With his right, he reached for the shell, but just as he brushed its arm it got one hand into the water. That seemed to spur it on. It rolled out of Will’s reach, then kept crawling until its head was completely underwater. Will stayed on the beach, watching it as it stayed on all fours where it was for a while. It looked like it was taking heavy breaths. 

 

Will tightened his grip on the necklace, then he kicked his shoes off and wandered into the water, eyes fixed on the shell. It must have noticed him getting in because it got up and started sprinting outwards. Will stopped himself from thinking too much about what he was doing, focusing instead on just placing one foot in front of the other until he wasn’t walking anymore. The shell was just in front of him and after a few meters it dived. 

 

Will took a deep breath and followed it. 

 

The sea was dark, far darker than it should probably be. It took a while for Will’s eyes to adjust, but he couldn’t let himself stop swimming. Deeper and deeper. 

 

Was it even this deep this close to the shore? 

 

It didn’t matter, he just had to follow the figure in front of him. 

 

_Dark hair floating in even darker water._

 

Will reached out, and felt something solid beneath his fingertips. He grabbed onto it, and the figure halted. With a tug, Will had the shell in front of him. It struggled, but he managed to wrap an arm around its neck. 

 

The second he put on the necklace the shell went limp. 

 

By now, Will’s lungs felt like they were about to burst. The sea seemed even darker than before.

 

Or maybe that was just his vision clouding. 

 

Will’s eyes were starting to close, and there was nothing he could do to stop them. He desperately looked around for…something. He wasn’t sure what, something to keep him awake, maybe. 

 

Just as his mind went blank he locked eyes with someone. Their eyes were lifeless, sunken into the skull of a drowned corpse and surrounded by hair darker than the sea itself…

 

 

 

Will spat out water and immediately started coughing. 

 

”Will! Oh thank god you’re okay” He felt someone wrap their arms around him. When his vision finally cleared he realized the voice was Elizabeth’s. 

 

”Elizabeth” He managed to croak out. His throat hurt. Actually, his entire body hurt. He’d never been hit by a bus, but he imagined this must be what it felt like ”Did I die?” 

 

It was a stupid question, he’d realize afterwards, but at the moment it seemed perfectly reasonable. 

 

”Mate, if you’d died you would have known it” The voice next to him was even coarser than his own sounded. Will looked to his side and saw Jack. 

 

He looked exhausted and far paler than usual, but alive. 

 

”Now if you’ll excuse me” Jack continued without waiting for an answer ”I have a few questions. First off, what in the world did that thing get up to with _my_ body?” 

 

”Slept around mainly, so nothing out of the ordinary” 

 

Jack clasped a hand over his mouth theatrically, which was impressive if he was a sore as Will.

 

”I _just_ came back from the dead and you have the _audacity_ to slutshame me? I think I’m gonna throw up” Jack’s face twisted ”In all seriousness, I really think I am so if you’ll pardon me for a moment” 

 

He stood up, once again impressing Will, and limped over to the tree line. Will carefully sat up with the help of Elizabeth. The pain was slowly starting to fade, but he liked getting help. 

 

”So” Elizabeth said ”We did it”

 

She looked out over the sea. The sun was starting to set and it made her hair shimmer in a way that was nothing short of mesmerizing. Will almost forgot that he was feeling like death. 

 

”Somehow it doesn’t feel like we did” She murmured, more to herself than Will ”I mean, all of this has made me think and we still don’t know why any of this is happening” 

 

Will felt about as tense as if he was about to jump into the sea again when he grabbed her hand. To his great relief, she didn’t pull away. Instead, she squeezed it lightly as he spoke. 

 

”I’ll help you figure it out. If you want my help, that is” 

 

Elizabeth smiled at him and once again Will felt like the pain was numbed. 

 

”I’d like that” She said. 

**Author's Note:**

> Blease for the love of god comment you are allowed to do so even if you don't have an account and I don't think you understand how much it means to me it's literally the only thing motivating me and I really wanna make a sequel to this before I lose it completely please I'm begging you I'll do anything I'm beggi


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